Privilege

You sit there and
You tell me
The United States does not need immigrants
When that’s who shaped it

You sit there and
You tell me
The United States must focus
On its own homeless first
When these people
In your mind
Are not under fire
These people
are not being bombed
Yet somehow
they are more important
You think these people are superior
Than those fleeing a war torn country
When the only difference
Is a privilege given by birth

When an emergency room doctor
Sees patients
They first see those
with the most serious injury
They treat those
in worse situations first
Yet this system
Seems limited to the medical field
When it should be adopted
As a basis on which to govern
Yet you
Are too privileged

Too privileged
To consider the hardships of refugees
To see from their point of view
To put yourself in their shoes
To see these mothers
To see these fathers
To see these children
Choose a path
Which more likely than not
Will result in their deaths
And understand their reasons

A government
Any government
Has an obligation
to protect its citizens
So what can be done
Who must step up
When a government fails to do so


You sit there and
You tell me
That letting them into our country
Will result in terrorist attacks
Because every Muslim
Is a radical Muslim
And you fail to acknowledge me
When I point out
That nearly
Twice as many
Terrorist attacks
Have been executed
By white supremacists
Anti-government fanatics
And other homegrown extremists
Than have been executed by Muslims
Since September 11, 2001

You sit there and
You tell me
That you are right
To think these thoughts
Despite history
Despite logic
Despite statistics
Because your privilege
Blinds you from these truths

Reviews

[Ethan]

Grammar corrections/optional edits:

You sit there and tell me
The United States does not need immigrants
When immigrants were the people who shaped it.

You sit there and tell me
The United States must focus
On its own homeless first,
When these people
In your mind
Are not under fire.
These people
are not being bombed.
Yet, somehow,
they are more important.
You think these people are superior
Than the souls fleeing a war torn country,
When the only difference between us and them
Is a privilege given by birth.

When an emergency room doctor
Sees patients, he treats those
with the most serious injuries first.
Yet, this system
Seems limited to the medical field,
When it should be adopted
As a basis on which to govern.
Yet, you
Are too privileged
To consider the hardships of refugees,
To see from their point of view,
To put yourself in their shoes ,
To see these mothers,
To see these fathers,
To see these children
Choose a path
That will likely
Result in their deaths.

A government,
Any government,
Has an obligation
to protect its citizens.
So what can be done?
Who must step up
When a government fails to do so?


You sit there and tell me
That letting them into our country
Will result in terrorist attacks
Because every Muslim
Is radical.
And you fail to acknowledge
That nearly
Twice as many
Terrorist attacks
Have been executed
By white supremacists,
Anti-government fanatics,
And other homegrown extremists
Than have been executed by Muslims
Since September 11, 2001.

You sit there and
You tell me
That you are right
To think these thoughts
Despite history,
Despite logic,
Despite statistics,
Because your privilege
Blinds you from the truth.

Comments:

I'm not sure this should be considered a poem. It's more of a political commentary. While poems can be political, they still need to be poems.

Your views are concise and clearly expressed. Your words are still very passionate. I enjoyed it. Keep writing :)

[Coyote Poetry]

You are right. Most terrorist attacks done by crazy and hateful people. Not Muslims. I liked your words and your logic. USA is based on emigration. Thank you Alexzandera for sharing your worthwhile words and thoughts.
Coyote

[WoodenChair]

you should go and f**k yourself

[Alexzandera]

Very constructive and helpful. Thank you

[Ethan]

Was that necessary?😂

[Alexzandera]

I mean I could go do that and it would bring me far more pleasure than it would bring....this chair?

[Ethan]

HAHA true. He hasn't posted any writing, so he has no room to talk ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[Zee Norton-Williams]

This is not meant as an offencive comment it's just my opinion you do not have to listen to me at all...

you say "The United States must focus o it's own homeless" But in my opinion the homeless of a country should come first. They are left starving on the street out in the cold and without shelter (just like those in other countries) No they are not being bombed but they do face many hard ships (a point I will later come back to).
You say "Yet you are to privileged" Privileged but makes the hard decision to help those that can easily be helped first, which not many people or countries chose to do so.
You say "Hard ship of refugees" The same hardship of the homeless people around the world. Hunger, homelessness, lose, cold, scared, and have lost something (people may think that most homeless people have brought it on themselves but yet I have meet so many that their country have failed. They lose a job or get there hours cut lose their home and cant get into work in good shape not all of them are drug addicts and bad people, most of them have just had a hard life). The things they deal with everyday and every night are the same as those people of which you talk about.
You say "To see their point of view, put yourself in their shoes. To see those mother.. Fathers.. Children". Yet all these people are the same as those on the streets. Not just in you're country but many around the world; In you're opinion do these people not deserve the same help.
You say "Any government has an obligation to protect it's own citizens" Yet the homeless are it's own citizens not the people fleeing the wars of the world, yes I do agree they need help too but you can not say that then ask they protect someone else's citizens over their own, can you?

I'm sorry if I offended anyone I did not mean to do so. The rest I do stand by but I am very into helping the homeless people of the world. No not all of them deserve helping but that does not mean they shouldn't be and should have a chance at a new beginning, does it?

I was sent a read request, I read, I saw, I had to voice my opinion.

[The earth (Titan maphah..]

I love this one... it is a bomb

[Taz]

I love the truth and passion in this poem. It tells how you truely feel and that is very important to me.

[Shaun Gurmin]

Nicely structured, it has a good rhythm. Good job.